Today I take the reins as editor of Crikey from Jason Whittaker, who has done a first-rate job for the past two years at the helm of this muckraking little website.

In some ways, nothing has changed since Stephen Mayne dreamt up Crikey 14 years ago. The establishment is still cosy, and the vested interests are still active. A handful of powerful people still direct a lot of the traffic, and there is still far too much information suppressed by people who regard democracy as a rhetorical flourish.

But one thing that does look very different is the media environment — and it’s time for us to take stock and sharpen our focus on the things that Crikey does better than anyone else.

Now more than ever, Crikey needs to uncover the dirt, decode the spin and lift the lid on media manipulation. More than ever, our journalism can’t fit a model still relentlessly pursued by big media.

We will be introducing new sections to the site over the coming weeks, and we’ve got a clean redesign of the newsletter on its way. We will also be calling for more participation from you, our readers.

We know you are an influential bunch and we want you to tip us off. To that end, politics editor Bernard Keane has a story today on a new, secure communication channel for whistleblowers and journalists. We encourage you to check it out.

In the current surveillance environment no journalist can offer true anonymity — but we reckon the Media Direct system goes a long way to addressing some of the major concerns and finding a way around what Keane describes as the “casual, warrantless” snooping of security agencies.

Of course we’ll still be taking tips through our regular channels, too.

I look forward to renewing Crikey’s mission as the place to go for stories that are ignored or buried by the majors.

— Marni Cordell